cecilia? >> reporter: diane, good evening. i am standing at the one-time police command post, the heart of that manhunt for christopher dorner. and just take a look at this. right over my shoulder, those houses right there, we now know that's where dorner was holed up just as of yesterday. neighbors telling us he very well may have been hiding in plain sight. from a barrage of gun fire to a rush of flame -- to that shell of a house now nothing left but rubble. >> shut down the freeway, possibly for the subject we've been looking for. >> reporter: christopher dorner's run from the law began to unravel here. to a cabin near a ski resort. police say dorner broke in and yesterday, when two unsuspecting women came by to clean, he allegedly tied them up, took their car and then sped off. one of the women broke free and managed to call the police. dorner was once again on the run. chased by police, he abandoned the stolen car, then up the road, police say dorner carjacked rick heltebrake.

>> dorner jumped out of the snow at me, gun drawn, big, long rifle. so, i just stopped and put my truck in park and put my hands up. he pointed his gun at me and said, "i don't want to hurt you, just get out and start walking up the road and take your dog." >> reporter: dorner raced off again. this time, a fish and game warden spotted him and that officer engaged in a life or death shootout. >> dorner realized he had been recognized, rolled down his window, held the pistol out the window and shot at the two wardens in the follow vehicle. miraculously, never hit the two wardens who were inside. >> reporter: but police say dorner did shoot two other officers during his run yesterday, killing 35-year-old jeremiah mckay, who leaves behind a 7-year-old daughter and 4-month-old son. the former navy reservist then holed himself up in a cabin and here, in these usually quiet mountains, an intense fire fight broke out. police say they fired tear gas into the cabin -- >> burn the gas!

burn the gas! >> reporter: then came the flames. >> we have fire. he might come out the back. one shot fired from inside the residence. >> reporter: by nightfall, the cabin burned to the ground. and inside, authorities say they discovered a lone, charred body. authorities now turn their attention to forensic tests to positively identify that body. 12 los angeles police department families remain under police protective watch, fearful of dorner's threat to go after them, diane. and i'm sure that fear will remain until that positive identity on that body comes back. >> all right, cecilia, thank you. and i want to bring in abc's chief justice correspondent right now, pierre thomas, who has been working the phones to learn more about the power of dorner's weapons. what have you learned, pierre? >> reporter: good evening, diane. sources say facing dorner was like facing a hitman. once source told me police believe dorner recently bought oxygen tanks used in scuba diving in order to breathe in the event of a tear gas attack. dorner apparently was dressed for war in combat gear. remember, he was not only a former cop, but also former military.

an expert marksman to boot. his arsenal, an assortment of rifles and possibly explosives. in short, my sources said this man was lethal. someone they knew going in had a death wish, diane. >> and undoubtedly there's more to come on all of this. thank you, pierre. as we said today, police paid a solemn farewell to one of their own. the first officer killed in the rampage. dozens of patrol cars leading the procession for the funeral of police officer michael crain. crain was a former marine, dad to 10-year-old ian, 4-year-old kaitlin. his wife regina talked about their lives together. >> just seemed too good, everything seemed too perfect. >> as we said, it was an emotional and solemn ceremony today. and now, we turn overseas, to rome, and the dramatic scene at the vatican today. pope benedict making his first appearance since his resignation announcement. amid the sacred celebration of ash wednesday.

there was a kind of rumbling in rome, a kind of aftershock and abc's dan harris is at the vatican to tell us more. >> reporter: on this ash wednesday, at his last public mass, pope benedict received a rare, rapturous standing ovation. earlier in the day, at a public ceremony, a similar reception, with cheers and tears. benedict was visibly moved. how was the atmosphere in the room? >> electric. solemn and electric at the same time. >> i almost cried. honestly, it was wonderful. >> reporter: beneath the applause, though, there are thorny questions swirling. we were struck by the fact that the pope said again today that he was resigning of his own free will. there's been a real emphasis on pointing out that the pope made this decision of his own volition. and was not pushed. why? >> why is that? because italians love conspiracy theories.

>> reporter: he's not kidding. the local papers here read like a dan brown novel, teeming with unsubstantiated talk of benedict being driven out by internal intrigue. anonymous conservatives in the vatican are calling the pope's resignation a disaster, because it diminishes the job of god's infallible representative on earth. once the holy spirit has chosen you, can you actually give your two week's notice? >> it's not a problem that the pope is renouncing the authority that he enjoys. he enjoys it only in as much as he's in office. not as a personal thing. >> reporter: in other words, as of 8:00 p.m. on february 28th, he will no longer be considered infallible. in that moment of resignation, there will be other delicate symbolic issues. what will the ex-pope's title be? what kind of robes will he wear? for centuries, when a pope dies, they seal his apartment to protect his documents and then ritually crush his papal ring

with a small silver hammer. but today, the vatican admitted they still really don't know exactly how and when they will handle these ancient traditions in this highly unusual case. so, what we're watching here, diane, is a 2,000-year-old church entering genuinely uncharted waters. >> for sure. thank you so much, dan, reporting in from rome tonight. and now, here at home, the hot debate about the president's proposal in the state of the union to raise the minimum wage in america. he said he wants to raise it from $7.25 an hour to $9, tied to inflation. and that will effect 15 million people, by the way, they're nearly two-thirds women and they're young, working to make their way into the middle class. so, how much would this help? here's abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl. >> reporter: the president took his state of the union message on the road today to asheville, north carolina, touting his most controversial new proposal -- raising the minimum wage.

>> it's time for an increase in the minimum wage, because if you work full time, you shouldn't be in poverty. >> reporter: lucas case of henderson county, north carolina, is a high school grad who couldn't afford college. he makes the minimum wage washing dishes. >> well, it's not fun living paycheck to paycheck. >> reporter: working 30 hours a week, lucas earns just $217. a raise to $9 an hour would mean $52 a week more in his paycheck. what would he do with the extra money? >> be able to do more things, have a better life. >> reporter: the raise would be enough to lift at least some people out of poverty. a full-time minimum wage worker earns $14,500 a year. for a single parent with a child, that's below the federal poverty line. $9 an hour means an annual salary of $18,000, slightly above the poverty level. but critics say there's a big downside. raise the minimum wage and employers won't be able to hire as many workers.

>> why would we want to make it harder for small employers to hire people? >> reporter: as evidence, they point to the unemployment rate among young people, who are the most likely to earn minimum wage. youth unemployment went up after the minimum wage was increased six years ago, and it now stands at nearly 24%, much higher than the overall unemployment rate. the president faces a big uphill fight on this in congress from republicans, who say that raising the minimum wage would only send the unemployment rate higher. as one senate republican told me today, the last thing employers need right now is to make hiring people more expensive. diane? >> morning after the state of the union. thank you so much, jonathan karl. and tonight, we have new images and some pretty horrifying tales of life on board that stranded vacation cruise ship. a third tugboat is now on its way to try to get those 4,200 people back to port. and abc's matt gutman flew out today to see the ship and who is standing out on deck.

>> reporter: tonight, we saw first-hand the crippled "triumph" from the air. >> we're about 129 miles off the coast. >> reporter: so, they have a ways to go. >> yeah. >> reporter: limping towards land. it took us a little over 40 minutes to get out here by plane. but it could take that ship another 24 hours before it docks. there, on the deck, some of the 4,200 passengers on board, languishing in their seventh day at sea. more than half of the time spent without power and limited sanitation. a far cry from the vacations passengers like ann barlow expected. her texts, a chronicle of misery. three days after fire kills the engines, she reassures her family. "we're all fine. a tugboat is coming. we don't know when we'll be home." but just 24 hours later -- "there is sewer runs down the walls and floors." she wrote, they are not fine. "elderly and handicap are struggling." other passengers texting about subsisting on cucumber and onion sandwiches. also on board, 12-year-old rebecca poret.

her mom worried sick, driving through the night to be here. >> my baby's on there. and i don't know that she's okay. and she was scared. she was hysterically crying, "mommy, i'm so scared." >> reporter: back on land, a photo of the ceo of carnival at the miami heat game last night is igniting the internet. meantime, carnival says 3,000 staff are working the issue, but the cruise line refused to muster a single one of them for an on-camera interview. tugboats will nudge the ship into this cruise ship terminal here. and by the thousands, the passengers will go through that jet bridge and they'll be triaged bid emts. then, they'll be bussed to new orleans where there are 1,500 rooms waiting. carnival has also said it will increase the compensation to the passengers by $500. diane? >> all right, matt gutman, our thanks to you. and still ahead here on "world news," our first report helped viewers save $2.5 million on cell phone bills.

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let us know, you're going to do it, too, and some of you sent us other ways that everyone can save money. abc's paula faris, here once again to put real money in your pocket. >> hi. >> hey, daddy. >> reporter: remember the barry family in massachusetts? divorced dad phil, daughters reagan and ava, who depend on their cell phones to stay in touch. >> i love you. >> i love you too, dad. >> reporter: we showed phil how to save big on his monthly cell bill by switching to a family plan and applying his corporate discount. >> holy mamajama. >> reporter: nearly $1,400 a year. and after our real money story aired, thousands of families around the country found other ways to save. >> we ended up saving about $80 a month. >> it estimated we'd save about $30 per month. >> reporter: we told you about savelovegive.com, a simple, save and free website. you log in and it fits you with the right place. "world news" viewers response was so overwhelming, they say their website temporarily crashed. 40,000 new users, all across

america, finding $2.5 million in potential savings. texas mom cynthia gratzer found out she's overspending big time. by changing her family's cell plan, her family will save almost $1,000 a year. >> who would have thought, 1,000? that's a huge amount of money. >> reporter: our insider todd dunphy says you might want to skip the carrier's insurance, which could add $120 per year per phone and may not be very convenien convenient. >> you're going to wait for the phone to come in the mail and it's usually a refurbished one. >> reporter: instead, he said consider other programs like apple care or third party insurance. our viewers even weighing in. >> hi, "world news," this is callie. >> reporter: callie says, be sure to use wi-fi when you're at home or work. it will save on data. >> it started turning off my data when i get home, so i only use the wireless connection. >> reporter: and what's phil doing with his savings? we checked in on facetime. really? and found him on the beach. >> saved me some money, so, i

figured i would take a vacation. >> reporter: now, our insiders says any fee is negotiable. so, talk to your carrier before you pay an activation or upgrade fee. if you are upgrading, negotiate by kindly reminding them how much you spend on their service each year, diane. >> always on the beat. thank you, paula faris. and coming up, happy news. a famous movie father and his wife anne have a big announcement tonight in our "instant index."and chantix h i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. it put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix.

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and something to celebrate at the top of our "instant index" tonight. listen closely to a wonderful song, which has new meaning. ♪ daddy played the banjo ♪ neath the yellow tree >> the song is called "daddy played the banjo" and it's a kind of lullaby written and played by steve martin. well, today he and his wife anne confirmed they are parents for the first time. and tonight, we send baby love, and as his song says, happiness around a childhood moon. and all of america got creative today after senator marco rubio created a kind of watergate, they're calling it, during his big rebuttal to last night's state of the union. >> in the short time that i've been here in washington, nothing has frustrated me more than false choices like the one the president laid out tonight. >> diving for the water there. one viewer tweeted, "we all just watched the next saturday night

live opening skit." and also today, poland spring posted this picture of a water bottle, quote, "reflecting on its cameo." rubio had a sense of humor, telling george stephanopoulos today, "god has a funny way of reminding us we're human." and as you know, robin roberts will be back at the "gma" anchor desk one week from today. and tonight, there she is, gracing the cover of "people" magazine, talking about the dark times and the light ones during her recovery from her bone marrow transplant. she says doctors had warned that at some point, she might feel like she was dying, and, indeed, there was a moment, quote, "i was in a coma-like state. i truly felt i was slipping away. then, i kept hearing my name." she says she thanks all of you for your prayers and support and she is returning to her true self, which i can say, is radiant.

and back next week. and be sure to let me know what you love for our "instant index" every day. and, coming up, we loved the pictures you sent us, saying, enough with the tv coverage of that fancy dog show. let's give out our own awards for the great things our dogs really do. my achy feet made it tough to play with billy. until he got his number. right! the machine showed me my pressure points on my feet, and it gave me my custom number. my arches needed more support. in two minutes, the dr. scholl's foot mapping center

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they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. your money needs an ally. and finally tonight, as everyone knows, the best in show at fancy westminster was a spiky little guy named banana joe. the dog is an affenpinscher, chosen because, of course, he is a nearly perfect specimen out of the textbook. short muzzle, blunt nose, straight front leg. and a tail perfectly curled. but all of us at "world news"

think we love the imperfections in our dogs the best. so, tonight, thanks to all the pictures you sent us, nick watt creates his awards for the dogs that are best in life. >> reporter: 2,700 purebred furballs were vying for that coveted title, best in show. >> banana joe! >> reporter: little banana joe crowned top dog. good for him, if you like that sort of thing. as far as i'm concerned, you can keep your fancy pants dogs. dogs like dexter, who are really good at sitting down, are the true heroes, the real dogs of this country. so, we decided to have our own awards. the best dogs in america. you sent us hundreds of nominees. small dogs, smiley dogs, and oh so many in costume. the most competitive category -- most athletic. our judges' ruling? baxter, the jet-skiing labradoodle, runs away with it. they say dog show people often look like their animals. so do some of you. our lookalike winners? brodie and sergeant amber knickman.

nice. moving onto talent -- a tie between maya the dog-dog-walker and paige, who tackles laundry, art and groceries. "a" for effort to rayley, a pudgy pooch who can, eventually, roll over. now those owners at westminster got their purebred pooches to primp, to pose, for prizes. for most people, there's a much better reason. and why did you get a dog? >> just really wanted the companionship. moved into an apartment by myself, so, just really wanted that companionship. >> reporter: dexter, runner up in our best companion competition. but the winner is cooper, holding hands with madelynn. both asleep on the long ride home. nick watt, abc news, los angeles. >> and long may they reign. and we thank you for watching. we're always working for you at abcnews.com. don't forget, "nightline" later at its new time, 12:35 a.m. eastern. and i'll see you right back here again tomorrow night.

good night. developing news on the manhunt for a excop on a murder rampage. what started the fire that probably killed him. >> democrat strayings taking place outside of the home of mark zuckerberg. the facebook founder's first foray into fund raising. >> in santa clara a bomb squad uncovered a housefultb3ñ of explosives. they've been looking for more. >> made in america story of a woman making big waves tonight with her itsy bitsy bikinis. >> it's happening in oakland. sky 7 hd is over fruit veil avenue and 16th street .s police looking for a driver of a car who hit a woman and a child. >> sky 7 is live over the

scene here that is what you're looking at here this, happened with b.an hour ago. >> and ab an adult female both transported to the hospital. their injuries not believed to be life threatening. we'll stay on top of this. you can follow us on twitter on abc 7 news bay area. >> good evening. meantime a teenager shab stabed to death this afternoon just feet from a san jose high school on east julian street at about 3:15 after classes ended. plos say the teenager stumbled around the corner after he was stabbed, where he died. sky 7 showed you the area where investigators are working now. investigators talked to the victim's brother. you can he see he's devastated by what happened. >> a fairfield man accused of raping and killing a

13-year-old girl made a court appearance today. prosecutors revealed he could get the death penalty if convicted ofgenel conway allen's murder. lx remains in jail here held without bail. he was in court for just a few minutes but made a very strong impression on the man who found the body of jones alleged victim. >> i had to close my eyes. >> eric may found the body of 13-year-old gennel conway allen. today, may sat in the front row as at accused rapist and killer made his first appearance in a fairfield courtroom. he said he had to be there. >> for the family number one. the family and frinldz of hers. and for myself to put this behind me. >> jones arraignment was put fofr a week. in addition to a charge of murder the